In Emily Dickinson's "I died for Beauty--but was scarce" I couldn't help but become frustrated. There are too many hypens! I read and reread this poem over and over again to see if these hypens were necessary, and in a few spots they are. But throughout the rest of the poem, it just throws me off. When reading a poem, if you come to a hypen, you are supposed to pause. When reading this poem it was as if I was pausing every five seconds. I can see how all of the hyphens may be necessary, but personally I think it detracts from the poem. Dickinson may be using so many hypens because she wants that sense of a pause. She doesn't want the reader to run through this poem but instead take the time to read each segment of the poem.
But it was still a little too much pausing for me. Did anyone else think this? - szd-c Mar 12, 2008
I am going to have to disagree and say the hyphens are absolutely necessary. Are they proper for formal writing in an essay? No. Is poetry a formal essay? No. These hyphens are part of Dickenson's signature. Seeing the hyphens in poems are a huge signal that she wrote it. Br. Tom told us that her poetry was origionally published without the hyphens and with proper grammar. But I think that detracts from the poem. Through her hyphens she can signal us when to pause, but the hyphens also emphasize the disjointed-ness of her poetry. Another signature of her poems is that, like this one, they are sometimes narrative, but they do not tell a straight story. There are gaps. The hyphens emphasize this. I googled this poem and the first site listed had her poem written without the hyphens; instead it used commas and semi-colons. It just wasn't her poetry. It looks different and you read it with a different flow. The hyphens are completely necessary. They are part of the identity of her poetry. - adi-c Mar 12, 2008
I agree with adi in the fact that it is Dickinson's own poem and without all of the hypens it would not be her style of writing. However, I also see how szd feels. When I reread this poem, I realized that I like the visual of all of the hypens, because it makes it different. It stands out with it own personality and flare, however, I would have put the hypens in totally different places. When I read it to myself, I found myself wanting to pause when there were no hypens and wanting to continue on at times when the hypens were included. This seems frustrating to me, as well. However, I think we have every right to criticize as long as we respect. I like the meaning behind the poem - the idea that goes beyond that of two souls talking to one another, the idea that we need to do our part to add a little beauty to the world wherever we go. This in my mind is more important than hypens or commas or semicolons by far. I pay more attention to the heart of the poem rather than the structure. That for me is just what I pay attention to and notice naturally. Whether I agree or disagree with the hypens is irrelevant when I look back on the poem as a whole, because I agree with Dickinson's opinion, maybe just not her style of writing. - AGe-c Mar 13, 2008
The hypens did not bother me too much because I love the use of puncutation and I pay a lot of attention to it. I like pauses and things like that because i think it makes the poems more unique and makes them read differently than boring old sentence and then period. The hypens make you slow down and enjoy what is being said. When i see sentence then period I don't really even focus on the words I just want to get to that period. The hypens make me slow down on my trek to the period, so I enjoy and appreciate them, they are good for me. AGe said that she "pays more attention to the heart of the poem rather than the structure" for me, I need to pay attention to the structure in order to get to the heart.- JJa-c Mar 13, 2008
To me, it seems as if she used hyphens to emphasize the lack of enjambment at the end of each line. I think she feared that when the reader read the poem they wouldn't pause at the end of the line as she thought they should. This is why she used the hyphens. Adi said that "the hyphens are completely necessary. They are part of the identity of her poetry." I do not think that the hyphens are necessary. Most poets would use words that would not enjamb the lines or they would just use periods. I guess that makes this poem unique but what was wrong with the period and good old fashioned reworking of the words. Obviously she wasn't trying to gain notoriety by the writing of this poem (this is Emily Dickinson we're talking about) and in that case I see no reason for making the poem stand out like that. - PSp-c
The fact of the matter is what if Emily Dickenson wanted this poem to be jarring when you read it? The pauses that the hyphens force the reader to consider and reflect within the small seconds of the pause what has been said. The repeated setting off of the hyphens shows that each fragment is important and should be considered by itself. Especially when we are dealing with poems about human mortality the author may want us to consider what no human being wants to consider and that is their own death. By continuing to pause throughout the poem, to the point that some readers become frustrated with all the red lights the reader is forced to look upon these two people who died for noble causes, beauty and truth, and yet in the end they remained dead and moss soon erased whatever memory there was of their names that died for these virtues in life. The extra pauses focus the readers attentions to this and helps to get the author's message across where less pauses would have just let the reader swiftly read through this and walk away without pausing to see what the protent of the poem is. - DGr-c
Actually, her punctuation's a reason I actually like Emily Dickinson. She's creative. I mean, punctuation builds up our language, right? It defines how our words play together, and how they build. Puntuation can make something seem long, drawn out, or quick - excited. It colors the poetry, and all that Dickinson did is really accentuate the coloring punctuation was doing in her poetry. Easy enough, right? As for all the dashes, they often separate thoughts or parts of thoughts for her, or connect ideas or feelings. So she took every possibly use for a dash, decided to double or triple the occurance, and then expanded on when to use it to broaden it's application, keeping in mind the different coloring that each mark might give her poetry, and then filled her poems with these. Read with it, you'll find it adds to the poem. - AZU-C Mar 13, 2008
I thought that, at times, her punctuation is a little bit over the top. I like the way that a lot of people can tell that it's her writing because she has so much unique punctuation, but to read them is something completely different. I feel as though I'm pausing every two words when it comes to her poems. At some point, I feel like all the hyphens lead up to nothing more than that of a normal pause one would take for a colon, not to mention it just confuses me while reading them. What's the purpose of placing three hyphens in a single line? Dramatic effect? She uses them as frequently, if not more, than periods and commas. While the hyphens are significant to her writing, and it wouldn't be the same without them, it might have been easier to read and comprehend without all the punctuation. - bzw-c Mar 13, 2008
I understand how it can be frustrating when you can't just breeze through something. Start, stop, start, stop. As soon as yu begin to pick up speed, you are brought to a halt. But we know for sure that authors don't add things or include things that don't have a meaning. Dickinson is exerienced, and I am sure she knows the ways of writing, and the risk of using so many hyphens. So I am pretty positive that she deemed them necessary. If she thought it was, then we should try to find the reason. It contributes to the meaning and aura of the poem. I must add that if I were a well-known author and felt that people audaciously skimmed through poetry, I would want to make them pause and focus in my nest work. - Sha-c Mar 13, 2008
I also really enjoy Dickinson's use of hyphens. It does make for constant pauses, but I think that was Dickinson's whole point! She didn't want you to speed through her poem, as though it was all one sentence containing one idea. These pauses separate the different parts of the sentence, and therefore distinguish changes in ideas. It is as if Dickinson is directing us: "Stop. Think about what I just said as a complete idea in itself. Ok, now you may move on." I've said this before, but I think that the beauty of poetry is its ability to get us to think along different lines, and therefore present new and different ideas that we might not understand in other mediums. Therefore, I feel that hyphens (and capitalization) are one of Dickinson's ways of conveying more accurately her thoughts and ideas. - lsi-c Mar 13, 2008
I love hyphens! I actually use hyphens alot in my own writing. I think the reason is because I do want a longer pause. I want my writing to be like I talk, and when I talk I definitely pause often for affect. Many times when I am trying to use correct grammar I have to stick a comma in the place of my hyphens, but it never works. I think we can learn from the many ways in which poets "push the envelope" in their style of writing. Dickinson was an intelligent woman, and I don't think that we should be critizicing her ever so popular work because some of us don't like the use of her hyphens. I say that poets can do whatever they want creatively and with words. - cdu-c Mar 13, 2008
I do think that Dickinson's use of hyphens is rather ingenious. Yes, it does seem annoying and distracting, but I think that it gives the right affect. I think that they can be overused, but they are not overused in this poem. When compared to other poems I was forced to read Dickinson's much slower and I actually got more out of it The only problem I have with them is that they are not very appealing to the eye when seen on a page, but this just draws more attention to the poem. One thing that I noticed about the poem is that many more hyphens are used in the second and third stanza than in the first. Is this of any significance? When I read the first stanza I saw a few places where a stanza may be placed because I would naturally pause there such as at the ends of some of the lines. Are these excluded because they are natural places to pause and are therefore unnecessary? Was Dickinson just trying to highlight important points in the other stanzas? - bga-c Mar 13, 2008
I too, like to use hyphens. I like the long pause, and i think when used correctly it can be crazy effective and really help get the idea of a poem across. Dickinson uses them a lot in this poem, and at first glance, i saw the poem and i liked it. Then, when I read it, i got a little frustrated because of the fact that there were so many long pauses. It did eventually make sense and i understood why she wanted us to have those long pauses to comprehend each section....but it can be confusing. - MFi-c Mar 13, 2008
Bga’s post really made me think about something new.We spend so much time noticing Dickinson’s hyphens and punctuations, but can we guess why she doesn’t use them even more?It seems to me that, at this point, she uses them so often; how does she decide when to use a different, more common, punctuation mark instead?For example in the first stanza there is one of the very few commas in the entire poem.Why didn’t she put a hyphen there?I think the hyphens emphasize things she wants readers to focus on, but I don’t really see this fitting for all the punctuation in this poem.- kec-c Mar 13, 2008
Perhaps Dickinson used the pauses so that we would stop in think or take in what we had just read. Or she could have put them in for instances when the poem is read aloud. I don't think that the hyphens are necessarily a problem. I think the issue is not understanding why she put the hyphens in. If we knew the exact reason as to why she inserted them, I think we wouldn't be as confused as to why we're stopping so often in the poem to pause. However, because we don't know we only become confused and frusturated. Not knowing leads to frusturation and confusion and that's all a part of human nature. There's nothing we can do about that. But getting upset over all of the pauses isn't the right idea either. Sometimes we just need to except things without completely understanding why they are that way.- aja-c Mar 13, 2008
I would have to agree that the hyphens are necessary. Dickinson obviously knew what she was doing when she decided to put all these hyphens in the poem and she did so for a reason. Yes, it is difficult to read and can become frustrating, but what else can the author use to make a person read it the way they want a person too? I think that Dickinson is extremely successful because she makes us all basically read it the same way just by adding this unique punctuation. - ptr-c Mar 13, 2008
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But it was still a little too much pausing for me. Did anyone else think this?
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I am going to have to disagree and say the hyphens are absolutely necessary. Are they proper for formal writing in an essay? No. Is poetry a formal essay? No. These hyphens are part of Dickenson's signature. Seeing the hyphens in poems are a huge signal that she wrote it. Br. Tom told us that her poetry was origionally published without the hyphens and with proper grammar. But I think that detracts from the poem. Through her hyphens she can signal us when to pause, but the hyphens also emphasize the disjointed-ness of her poetry. Another signature of her poems is that, like this one, they are sometimes narrative, but they do not tell a straight story. There are gaps. The hyphens emphasize this. I googled this poem and the first site listed had her poem written without the hyphens; instead it used commas and semi-colons. It just wasn't her poetry. It looks different and you read it with a different flow. The hyphens are completely necessary. They are part of the identity of her poetry.
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I agree with adi in the fact that it is Dickinson's own poem and without all of the hypens it would not be her style of writing. However, I also see how szd feels. When I reread this poem, I realized that I like the visual of all of the hypens, because it makes it different. It stands out with it own personality and flare, however, I would have put the hypens in totally different places. When I read it to myself, I found myself wanting to pause when there were no hypens and wanting to continue on at times when the hypens were included. This seems frustrating to me, as well. However, I think we have every right to criticize as long as we respect. I like the meaning behind the poem - the idea that goes beyond that of two souls talking to one another, the idea that we need to do our part to add a little beauty to the world wherever we go. This in my mind is more important than hypens or commas or semicolons by far. I pay more attention to the heart of the poem rather than the structure. That for me is just what I pay attention to and notice naturally. Whether I agree or disagree with the hypens is irrelevant when I look back on the poem as a whole, because I agree with Dickinson's opinion, maybe just not her style of writing. -
The hypens did not bother me too much because I love the use of puncutation and I pay a lot of attention to it. I like pauses and things like that because i think it makes the poems more unique and makes them read differently than boring old sentence and then period. The hypens make you slow down and enjoy what is being said. When i see sentence then period I don't really even focus on the words I just want to get to that period. The hypens make me slow down on my trek to the period, so I enjoy and appreciate them, they are good for me. AGe said that she "pays more attention to the heart of the poem rather than the structure" for me, I need to pay attention to the structure in order to get to the heart.-
To me, it seems as if she used hyphens to emphasize the lack of enjambment at the end of each line. I think she feared that when the reader read the poem they wouldn't pause at the end of the line as she thought they should. This is why she used the hyphens. Adi said that "the hyphens are completely necessary. They are part of the identity of her poetry." I do not think that the hyphens are necessary. Most poets would use words that would not enjamb the lines or they would just use periods. I guess that makes this poem unique but what was wrong with the period and good old fashioned reworking of the words. Obviously she wasn't trying to gain notoriety by the writing of this poem (this is Emily Dickinson we're talking about) and in that case I see no reason for making the poem stand out like that. -
The fact of the matter is what if Emily Dickenson wanted this poem to be jarring when you read it? The pauses that the hyphens force the reader to consider and reflect within the small seconds of the pause what has been said. The repeated setting off of the hyphens shows that each fragment is important and should be considered by itself. Especially when we are dealing with poems about human mortality the author may want us to consider what no human being wants to consider and that is their own death. By continuing to pause throughout the poem, to the point that some readers become frustrated with all the red lights the reader is forced to look upon these two people who died for noble causes, beauty and truth, and yet in the end they remained dead and moss soon erased whatever memory there was of their names that died for these virtues in life. The extra pauses focus the readers attentions to this and helps to get the author's message across where less pauses would have just let the reader swiftly read through this and walk away without pausing to see what the protent of the poem is.
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Actually, her punctuation's a reason I actually like Emily Dickinson. She's creative. I mean, punctuation builds up our language, right? It defines how our words play together, and how they build. Puntuation can make something seem long, drawn out, or quick - excited. It colors the poetry, and all that Dickinson did is really accentuate the coloring punctuation was doing in her poetry. Easy enough, right? As for all the dashes, they often separate thoughts or parts of thoughts for her, or connect ideas or feelings. So she took every possibly use for a dash, decided to double or triple the occurance, and then expanded on when to use it to broaden it's application, keeping in mind the different coloring that each mark might give her poetry, and then filled her poems with these. Read with it, you'll find it adds to the poem. -
I thought that, at times, her punctuation is a little bit over the top. I like the way that a lot of people can tell that it's her writing because she has so much unique punctuation, but to read them is something completely different. I feel as though I'm pausing every two words when it comes to her poems. At some point, I feel like all the hyphens lead up to nothing more than that of a normal pause one would take for a colon, not to mention it just confuses me while reading them. What's the purpose of placing three hyphens in a single line? Dramatic effect? She uses them as frequently, if not more, than periods and commas. While the hyphens are significant to her writing, and it wouldn't be the same without them, it might have been easier to read and comprehend without all the punctuation. -
I understand how it can be frustrating when you can't just breeze through something. Start, stop, start, stop. As soon as yu begin to pick up speed, you are brought to a halt. But we know for sure that authors don't add things or include things that don't have a meaning. Dickinson is exerienced, and I am sure she knows the ways of writing, and the risk of using so many hyphens. So I am pretty positive that she deemed them necessary. If she thought it was, then we should try to find the reason. It contributes to the meaning and aura of the poem. I must add that if I were a well-known author and felt that people audaciously skimmed through poetry, I would want to make them pause and focus in my nest work. -
I also really enjoy Dickinson's use of hyphens. It does make for constant pauses, but I think that was Dickinson's whole point! She didn't want you to speed through her poem, as though it was all one sentence containing one idea. These pauses separate the different parts of the sentence, and therefore distinguish changes in ideas. It is as if Dickinson is directing us: "Stop. Think about what I just said as a complete idea in itself. Ok, now you may move on." I've said this before, but I think that the beauty of poetry is its ability to get us to think along different lines, and therefore present new and different ideas that we might not understand in other mediums. Therefore, I feel that hyphens (and capitalization) are one of Dickinson's ways of conveying more accurately her thoughts and ideas. -
I love hyphens! I actually use hyphens alot in my own writing. I think the reason is because I do want a longer pause. I want my writing to be like I talk, and when I talk I definitely pause often for affect. Many times when I am trying to use correct grammar I have to stick a comma in the place of my hyphens, but it never works. I think we can learn from the many ways in which poets "push the envelope" in their style of writing. Dickinson was an intelligent woman, and I don't think that we should be critizicing her ever so popular work because some of us don't like the use of her hyphens. I say that poets can do whatever they want creatively and with words. -
I do think that Dickinson's use of hyphens is rather ingenious. Yes, it does seem annoying and distracting, but I think that it gives the right affect. I think that they can be overused, but they are not overused in this poem. When compared to other poems I was forced to read Dickinson's much slower and I actually got more out of it The only problem I have with them is that they are not very appealing to the eye when seen on a page, but this just draws more attention to the poem. One thing that I noticed about the poem is that many more hyphens are used in the second and third stanza than in the first. Is this of any significance? When I read the first stanza I saw a few places where a stanza may be placed because I would naturally pause there such as at the ends of some of the lines. Are these excluded because they are natural places to pause and are therefore unnecessary? Was Dickinson just trying to highlight important points in the other stanzas? -
I too, like to use hyphens. I like the long pause, and i think when used correctly it can be crazy effective and really help get the idea of a poem across. Dickinson uses them a lot in this poem, and at first glance, i saw the poem and i liked it. Then, when I read it, i got a little frustrated because of the fact that there were so many long pauses. It did eventually make sense and i understood why she wanted us to have those long pauses to comprehend each section....but it can be confusing.
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Bga’s post really made me think about something new. We spend so much time noticing Dickinson’s hyphens and punctuations, but can we guess why she doesn’t use them even more? It seems to me that, at this point, she uses them so often; how does she decide when to use a different, more common, punctuation mark instead? For example in the first stanza there is one of the very few commas in the entire poem. Why didn’t she put a hyphen there? I think the hyphens emphasize things she wants readers to focus on, but I don’t really see this fitting for all the punctuation in this poem. -
Perhaps Dickinson used the pauses so that we would stop in think or take in what we had just read. Or she could have put them in for instances when the poem is read aloud. I don't think that the hyphens are necessarily a problem. I think the issue is not understanding why she put the hyphens in. If we knew the exact reason as to why she inserted them, I think we wouldn't be as confused as to why we're stopping so often in the poem to pause. However, because we don't know we only become confused and frusturated. Not knowing leads to frusturation and confusion and that's all a part of human nature. There's nothing we can do about that. But getting upset over all of the pauses isn't the right idea either. Sometimes we just need to except things without completely understanding why they are that way.-
I would have to agree that the hyphens are necessary. Dickinson obviously knew what she was doing when she decided to put all these hyphens in the poem and she did so for a reason. Yes, it is difficult to read and can become frustrating, but what else can the author use to make a person read it the way they want a person too? I think that Dickinson is extremely successful because she makes us all basically read it the same way just by adding this unique punctuation. -
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